Puppet Lieder, Rosemary Branch Theatre

How fitting that on All Hallows Eve I fell in love with a singing griffin. Just as strange, he was a troubadour with a lute singing complex opera. By complex, I mean Henry Purcell - not the sweetest of tunes, but bristling with life. The griffin was seduced by a buxom unicorn with whom, by the end of 90 minutes, he'd had a baby. That was to Purcell too: both a trick and a treat.

Puppet Lieder is a little jewel that's being polished nightly at the Rosemary Branch. The singing, particularly counter-tenor Tom Verney and playful soprano, Emily Jennings, is just glorious. But while the performers are polished and pretty, it's Simon Bejer's puppets that steal the scenes. The wooing of the serious griffin, a man who reads, by the TOWIE unicorn is playful and charming and funny. The unicorn giving birth during Ah! how sweet it is to love, had the audience roaring. 

Punctuating the laughter was a powerful, deeply moving, scene featuring a small male puppet, a soldier in the First World War. His story unfolded through Benjamin Britten's Canticle II, Abraham and Isaac. The sacrifice of Abraham's first born son becomes the sacrifice of all sons in the trenches. There is a clever re-creation using a table filled with earth and bordered with barbed wire and sandbags. Dominic J Walsh is a touching human Abraham. Tellingly, the one part of Puppet Lieder that disappointed, lacked a puppet. Eight short songs by Jonathan Dove were ably sung by Fiona Mackay, but were short on passion or context despite the overlay of a film noir narrative. 

In conclusion: It's always exciting to stumble on a hidden delight, and the Puppet Lieder is one. The music is textural and tense. Full credit to Musical Director, James Young on piano, and stage Directors, Stuart Barker and Darren East. Puppeteers Cass and Fagner Gastaldon turn even a set change into a performance. For £13 a head, it's a lovely evening out.

References:
Puppet Lieder, Tickets

Rosemary Branch Theatre, Shepperton  Road, London N1.      Run ends November 9.